2021 was quite a year for R.R.Memorandum. Such a whirlwind of a year deserves a blog post dedicated to it, and all the things we are grateful for that happened to us during those 12 short months.
Collaborations
After our successful collaboration with Gravelvet in 2020, we were excited to work with more artists in the EGL community in 2021. If you cast your mind back to the very beginning of 2021, you might remember that R.R.Memorandum began it's year collaborating with our friends across the pond on an absolutely iconic jewellery collection. The Néant Glass x R.R.Memorandum Lavender coffin series was available exclusively from our webshop in early 2021, and sold out in record time!
In the summertime, we were fortunate enough to collaborated with local EGL artist, Becy Brooks, to bring not one but two new Print on Demand collections to our webshop - Today's Coordinate, and Rose Vampire. Both of these series' are still available on our webshop!
Summer Internship
In June 2021, Lucy May (me) moved to Norwich for the summer to work directly alongside designer Katherine in supporting the development of the brand and the marketing of The Collection. It was a fun time filled with happy memories! During this time, we were able to do many photoshoots, an in-person event and be doubly as productive for the brand!
The Prince's Trust
R.R.Memorandum simply would not exist without the indispensable help of The Prince's Trust. Our incredible designer took their course, which helped her to develop her original business ideas from the ground up. Following the completion of the course, she was provided with mentorship from those with career histories in the specialist environment of the fashion industry. Furthermore, following a pitch we undertook, PT were able to help us financially through their loan scheme. This has helped us to get our first large-scale collections off the ground, and the advice we have been given has been second-to-none, making a real difference to the confidence we are gaining during the processes of production at the moment!
Our First Collections
2021 was the year of R.R.Memorandum's first major fashion collection creation journey! Heirloom Rose and Royal Crown Valerie were concepts first put forth by Katherine in the early part of 2021. In the summer-time, we were very pleased to find a specialist fashion studio based in London able to help to make Kath's artistic vision a reality. We established a working relationship with them, as well as a wonderful pattern cutter who happens to have previously worked with Vivienne Westwood. Gaining the funding secured our ability to work with these amazing people in the sampling process and, following a pre-order period, the ongoing manufacturing process of our main garments.
Our First Physical Publication
We always knew we wanted to create physical publications here at R.R.Memorandum. No better time to do it than to celebrate our first collections! Although the mook was in production throughout the month of August, it was not until late-September that the photoshoots of our collections could take place, and the mook finally came together! We were delighted to be able to welcome individuals from within our own EGL and creative community to model and creatively collaborate for this publication, and were also delighted to be able to shoot with the ever-lovely Beckii Cruel! It was also a privilege to showcase through advertisement a multitude of EGL and J-fashion focused brands from around the world! This first mook was an immediate success, and sold out in late 2021!
Regal Rose Teaparty and Fashion Showcase
In October, after months of planning, liaising with other brands, organising venue, campaigning, selecting models etc. etc., we were finally able to run our first large tea-party and fashion showcase event. Hosted at the gorgeous Assembly House in Norwich, this event allowed us to invite over 50 EGL fanciers from around the UK to have a live look at and purchase not only our new fashion collections, but apparel and accessories from many other international brands! An extravagant and exciting occasion we will never forget, Regal Rose gave us the opportunity to answer some of our supporter's burning questions and interact with those who have been there for us from the beginning. We are so grateful to all the brand designers, models, volunteers etc. who worked with us to make this event possible!
2021 - Not always easy, or fun - but it was certainly a year of hard work that paid off in the long run and we hope will continue to do so!